September 26, 2013

Thursday Hillary Bash - Don't Steal My Cam Bro'!

There’s a certain authoritarianism that seems to circulate in the air around certain political figures. From the Miami Herald:

Hillary Clinton quietly slipped into Miami on Thursday to address a travel agents convention in a speech where the former secretary of state said little about troubles abroad or the future ambitions of the likely presidential-race frontrunner.

Clinton slipped a question about what it would take for the United States to elect its first female leader, Clinton was quick with a joke.

“Well, it’ll take a crazy person,” she said, drawing laughs from the crowd at the American Society of Travel Agents’ global convention.

Though ostensibly not political, Clinton’s address had the makings of an introductory campaign speech. Campaigns are often highly controlled events, but the ASTA conference at Hyatt Regency Miami kicked it up a notch.

At one point, a member of the audience, Andrew Rothberg, had his Galaxy Note II smartphone taken from him by security, which removed his picture of Clinton onstage and then gave his device back in front of a Miami Herald reporter in the auditorium stands.

I get the controlled environment idea - control the conversation, control the pictures (look at what happened to John McCain in The Atlantic's photos. But to take photos away from citizens just wanting a picture leaves a bad taste in the voters' mouths. It comes across as both heavy handed and also very controlling and ultra-sensitive to potential media portrayals of her. Let's see if it happens again. I am pretty sure it will.